Penny Dreadful’ needs to pick up the pace

Monday

Jun 2, 2014 at 12:15 AMJun 2, 2014 at 12:54 AM

“Penny Dreadful” doesn’t waste time living up to its title which refers to inexpensive 19th century British fiction with sensational and grisly themes. In the opening minutes of the first episode, a woman is violently pulled through a window while she uses the toilet. Seconds later, her beautiful little daughter opens the bathroom door and screams. When the police arrive, they find carnage. The girl and her mother are in pieces. Gossips around the neighborhood wonder: Is Jack the Ripper back?

No. But several characters from horror fiction are in what is meant to be an origin tale. The concept has promise if only “Penny Dreadful” would pick up its painfully slow pace and spend as much time crafting a thriller as it does on creating startling imagery.

Popping up in dark and dreary England are Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and what appear to be the long, lost ancestors of Dracula, here depicted as much more monstrous than the sexy beasts that populate “True Blood.”

This is the story: Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton), along with clairvoyant Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and sharpshooter Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) are searching for Malcolm’s daughter Mina. Mina (from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”) has disappeared and Malcolm believes the vampires have her although Vanessa, despite being a seer, doesn’t have much to say on the subject.

Vanessa says little but when she does speak it’s in serious, measured tones accompanied by wide-eyed stares. When we meet her she is on her knees praying in front of a crucifix.

As the camera moves toward her from behind, her head is bowed so low, she appears to be headless. In more creepy imagery, a spider crawls along the cross and then appears on her hand.

Vanessa recruits Ethan from a traveling Wild West show by tempting him with an offer to explore the “demi-monde” world, a “half-world between what we know and what we fear.” She shows off her skills with a quick assessment: He used to be rich but now he drinks too much and has given in to the “unbridled pleasures of youth.” He’s also a man “much more complicated than he likes to appear.” You’ll just have to take her word for it since Ethan let’s his shooting do most of the talking.

Dr. Frankenstein, a scientist obsessed with the thread between life and death, joins the group as a sort of freelance medical examiner. His monster (Rory Kinnear), who he keeps at home attached to electric cables, comes to life during a storm. Treadaway and Kinnear play the scene with intense and touching emotion. It’s a sign of what this series is capable of delivering. But it was only a moment in a tale that so far, has very little to say. The characters reveal next to nothing about themselves and the story relies on disturbing visuals more than careful plotting. A little mystery keeps the audience wanting more but too much mystery risks them walking away for good. I want to like “Penny Dreadful” but I’m halfway out the door.

“Penny Dreadful” is on Sundays at 10 p.m. EDT on Showtime.

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“Penny Dreadful” doesn’t waste time living up to its title which refers to inexpensive 19th century British fiction with sensational and grisly themes. In the opening minutes of the first episode, a woman is violently pulled through a window while she uses the toilet. Seconds later, her beautiful little daughter opens the bathroom door and screams. When the police arrive, they find carnage. The girl and her mother are in pieces. Gossips around the neighborhood wonder: Is Jack the Ripper back?

No. But several characters from horror fiction are in what is meant to be an origin tale. The concept has promise if only “Penny Dreadful” would pick up its painfully slow pace and spend as much time crafting a thriller as it does on creating startling imagery.

Popping up in dark and dreary England are Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and what appear to be the long, lost ancestors of Dracula, here depicted as much more monstrous than the sexy beasts that populate “True Blood.”

This is the story: Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton), along with clairvoyant Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and sharpshooter Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) are searching for Malcolm’s daughter Mina. Mina (from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”) has disappeared and Malcolm believes the vampires have her although Vanessa, despite being a seer, doesn’t have much to say on the subject.
Vanessa says little but when she does speak it’s in serious, measured tones accompanied by wide-eyed stares. When we meet her she is on her knees praying in front of a crucifix.
As the camera moves toward her from behind, her head is bowed so low, she appears to be headless. In more creepy imagery, a spider crawls along the cross and then appears on her hand.

Vanessa recruits Ethan from a traveling Wild West show by tempting him with an offer to explore the “demi-monde” world, a “half-world between what we know and what we fear.” She shows off her skills with a quick assessment: He used to be rich but now he drinks too much and has given in to the “unbridled pleasures of youth.” He’s also a man “much more complicated than he likes to appear.” You’ll just have to take her word for it since Ethan let’s his shooting do most of the talking.

Dr. Frankenstein, a scientist obsessed with the thread between life and death, joins the group as a sort of freelance medical examiner. His monster (Rory Kinnear), who he keeps at home attached to electric cables, comes to life during a storm. Treadaway and Kinnear play the scene with intense and touching emotion. It’s a sign of what this series is capable of delivering. But it was only a moment in a tale that so far, has very little to say. The characters reveal next to nothing about themselves and the story relies on disturbing visuals more than careful plotting. A little mystery keeps the audience wanting more but too much mystery risks them walking away for good. I want to like “Penny Dreadful” but I’m halfway out the door.